Lubricant distributor



Aug. 5, 1947.

J. J. HENNEssY LUBRICANT DISTRIBUTOR Filed neo. 1, 1945 Patented Aug. 5,1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 11 Claims.

l The invention relates to the lubrication of railway axle journals, andmore particularly to arrangements in which a pump rests upon the floorof the journal box beneath the journal and includes parts actuated bythe play of the journal in the box to supply lubricant to a distributorabove the pump and contacting the journal. Pumps of this general Jtypeare illustrated in J. J. Hennessy Patent 2,272,199, issued February 10,1942.

With such arrangements, the pump proper and the distributor are formedseparately and are inserted separately into the box beneath the journaland there assembled in cooperative relation. One object of the inventionis to facilitate such assembly of the parts in the journal box.

Another object is to attain adequate distribution of lubricant to thejournal over a substantial area, and preferably to provide a high levelsupply of lubricant for the distributor during intervals when the pumpmay be temporarily ineffective because the vehicle has been standingstill or because its pump has fed all of a small quantity of oil in thesump formed by the bottom of the box or for other reasons.

These and other detail objects as will appear from the followingdescription are attained by the structure illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in Which- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinalsection through an American Association of Railroads standard journalbox equipped with a lubricator of the type described and also indicatingthe journal with which .the box and the lubricator are associated.

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse section taken approximately on theline 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top view of the distributor shown in Figures 1 and 2 witha portion sectioned horizontally to illustrate details of theconstruction.

Figure 4 is a detailliorizontal section and View taken approximately onthe line 4-4 of Figure l.

Figure 5 is a vertical longitudinal section through the box similar tothat shown in Figure 1 but drawn on a smaller scale and illustrating theinsertion of the distributor into the box.

The axle journal indicated at I and the journal box indicated at 2 areof familiar construction, the box including a rear end wall 3 and anarcuate bottom wall 4 merging with an arcuate front wall 5 and uprightside walls 6. The front wall has the usual opening at 'I enclosed by adoor (not sho-wn) which may be opened for insertion and removal of thejournal bearing and wedge (not shown), the pump, oil, etc.

The pump, indicated generally at 8, includes a shallow, narrow,elongated body 9 with inclined and diverging ears at the end nearest thefront of the box upon which ears are mounted leversl disposed to engagethe end ofl the journal and to operate pistons in the pump cylinders, asdetailed in J. J. Hennessy Patent, No. 2,331,835, issued October 12,1943. The pump discharges through an outlet II into a shallow cup-likerecess I2 in the top face of the pump y body.

Lubricant is conducted from the pump and is distributed over the lowerportion of the journal by a device comprising a series of pan-likemembers l', and I5, each having a bottom Wall i6 and side walls I1. Theside Walls of the two end members I3 and I5 include ears I8 overlappingthe side wall of the center member I4 and pivotally connected thereto bypins I9 extending transversely of the length of the device and of theaxis of the journal. Each member l 5 and I5 has end walls 2li Iwiththeir upper edges shaped to the contour of the journal and thickened toincrease the area of the bearingagainst the journal. The end walls ofcenter member I4 have ledges 2l' for `abutting the opposing end walls ofend members I3 and I5. The abutting surfaces will be ground to formtight joints between the successive members when they are in the normalposition shown in Figure 1. The members may be inclined relative to eachother about the pins I 9 (see Figure 5) to facilitate insertion andremoval of the distributor into and out of the space between the journaland the iloor of the box.

A conduit 22 is hinged to the rear member I5 and depends therefrom withits lower end terminating in a ball-like element 23 arranged to beseated in recessv I2 in the pump body. A passageway 2li extends throughthe conduit and its hinge pin 25 and leads to the interior of member I5as detailed, for example, in the above-mentioned Patent 2,272,199.

A coil spring 2B is compressed between opposing seats on the lower endof the conduit and on the bottom of member I4, thrusting these parts inopposite directions'and cooperating with conduit 22 to yieldinglysupport the distributor against the journal and holding the pump inposition against the oor of the box.

Each member I3, Hand I5 has inner arcuate walls 21 spaced from eachother and from lower and outer walls I'S and Il and forms, with thelatter and with end walls 20, a reservoir 28 at each side ofthe-'journal and extending upwardly a substantial distance above thebottom of the individual member. The reservoirs are open at the top toreceive oil which may be discharged from the rotating journal or bescraped from the journal by the bearing (not shown) and drip from thelatter or, in an emergency, the reservoirs may be filled with oilmanually with a hand oiler inserted through the box opening 1.

Each wall 21 is apertured to receive a plug 29 of feltlike materialwhich projects inwardly and downwardly to the bottom of the reservoirand upwardly and outwardly to contact with the journal and feed oil tothe journal by capillary attraction if the oil level above bottom wallI6 is not high enough to engage the journal. Preierably, these plugswill contain an insert or be treated with a chemical adapted to give offa dense volume of smoke when a predetermined temperature is reachedgreater than that encountered in the normal operation of the box butbelow that at which the bearing will be softened and a hot box conditionarise.

Restricted openings 30 at the lower ends of the reservoir are providedfor the slow drainage of lubricant back to the bottom of the reservoirwhere it may rise to a level to contact the lowermost portion of thejournal. Notches 3| in the adjacent end walls of members I3, I4 and I5provide for the flow of lubricant from end to end of the distributor.

A holding plate 32 is secured to the box rear wall 3, as by welding atW, and carries a U- shaped plate 33 arranged to extend alongside of thepump body and position the same longitudinally and transversely of thebox. Plates 32 and 33 carry another plate-like member 35 havingforwardly extending diverging fingers 36. As the distributor is shovedtowards the rear of the box, conduit 22 will be engaged by fingers 36and will be positioned centrally of the box and will be elevated to theapproximate position shown in Figure l so that there will be roombeneath the lower end of the conduit for the pump body to be insertedwith its recess I2 beneath the conduit element 23. Prior to theinsertion and removal of the distributor, and the pump, the box will bejacked up and the journal bearing and wedge removed and the box lowered,thus providing greater clearance between the journal and the floor ofthe box.

The arrangement described attains the objects set forth in theintroductory portion of this specification. Each of the distributormembers I3, I4 and I5 is readily constructed and assembled with theother elements and with the conduit 22 and, when these parts areassembled, with spring 26, the distributor unit is complete and may bemanipulated and may function as described above. When disassociated fromthe pump and journal, the movement of conduit 22 away from the pan-likemembers is :limited by a lug 31 at the rear of its hinge pan and adaptedto engage the bottom of member I5. This avoids spring 26 dropping fromthe assembly.

Some of the features described may be used without necessarily includingall of the other features described and the details of the constructionmay be varied substantially without departing from the spirit of theinvention, and the exclusive use of those modifications coming withinthe scope of the claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is:

l. In a lubricant distributor for a railway axle journal, a plurality ofpan-like members arranged for application end to end and lengthwise ofthe surface of a journal to be lubricated and connected to each other soas to swing about pivots extending transversely of the length of thedistributor, and thereby provide for insertion of the distributor into ajournal box past the end of the journal, and a conduit pivotallyconnected to one of the members and extending downwardly therefrom tocontact a pump body, a spring associated with the lower portion of thesaid conduit and another of said members to support the latter and thruit the other members.

2. In a lubricant distributor for a railway axle journal, a plurality ofpan-like members arranged for application end to end and lengthwise ofthe surface of a journal to be lubricated and connected to each other soas to swing about pivots extending transversely of the length of thedistributor, and thereby provide for insertion of the distributor into ajournal box past the end of the journal, and an arm pivotally connectedto one of the members and extending downwardly therefrom to contact asupport, there being spring means associated with the arm and another ofthe members and thrusting the free end of the arm and the members awayfrom each other.

3. In a lubricant distributor for a railway axle journal, a series ofthree pan-like members arranged for application end to end lengthwise ofthe surface of a journal to be lubricated and connected to each other soas to swing about pivots extending transversely of the length of thedistributor, and thereby provide for insertion of the distributor into ajournal box past the end of the journal, and a conduit pivotallyconnected to the inner end pan member and extending downwardly therefromto contact a pump body on which the distributor is mounted and to swingin a vertical plane extending lengthwise of the lubricator, and springmeans associated with the conduit and the middle one of the pan membersto thrust the conduit downwardly against the pump body and to thrust themiddle pan member upwardly against the journal and to align the middlepan member with the end pan members.

4. In a lubricator distributor for a railway axle journal, a series ofpan-like members concaved upwardly transversely of their sequence,contiguous members having overlapping portions at their upper side edgespivoted together to hinge the members on each other, a conduit pivotallydepending from one of said members with its lower swinging end arrangedto engage a support, and spring means carried by said conduit andthrusting upwardly on another one of said members so that the abuttingedges of the members will be thrust together when the members engage thesurface of a journal to which the distributor is applied.

5. In a lubricant distributor for a railway axle journal, a plurality ofpan-like members assembled end to end to form a composite distributor,each member having a web forming bottom and side walls, and having endwalls with upper edges shaped to contact the lower face of a journal towhich the distributor is applied, and inner arcuate walls spaced fromsaid web and spaced apart transversely of the distributor and formingwith said web and end walls reservoirs at the sides of the distributoropen at the top, to receive lubricant carried above the distributor bythe journal and then discharged, and apertured at the bottom to returnsuch discharged lubricant to the bottom of the distributor.

6. A lubricant distributor as described in claim 5 in which an arcuatewall is apertured and plugged with a felt-like member projecting in onedirection into the reservoir behind the wall and in the other directioninto position to contact the journal to which the distributor isapplied.

7. A lubricant distributor as described in claim 5 in which an arcuatewall is apertured and plugged with a felt-like member projecting in onedirection into the reservoir behind the wall and into contact with saidweb at the bottom of the reservoir and in the other direction intoposition to contact the journal to which the distributor is applied.

8. A lubricant distributor comprising a series of pan-like members asdescribed in claim 5 arranged end to end with their abutting end wallsforming a tight joint, there being a passageway from one member to theother through the abutting end walls, and one of the members beingprovided with a depending spring-thrust conduit arranged to support themember from a pump below the distributor.

9. A lubricant distributor comprising a series of pan-like members asdescribed in claim 5 arranged end to end and connected adjacent theirends by pivots extending transversely of the members through the upperportions of their outer side walls, spring means for supporting anintermediate member so that the contiguous members are suspended fromthe pivots with the weight of the members thrusting their ends intocontact with the intermediate member.

10. In combination with a railway axle journal box adapted to have alubricant pump supported on the inner bottom wall of the box andprovided with a cup-like depression in its upper face, a lubricantdistributor comprising a pan-like structure arranged for application tothe lower portion of a journal on which the |box is mounted, and havingan arm hinged to the structure and depending therefrom so that its lowerend may seat in said depression, there being a spring compressed betweenthe swinging end of the arm and the member to support the member againstthe journal, and a plate-like guide and support fixedly secured to theinner wall of the box with fingers extending towards the front of thebox and spaced above the oor of the box to receive the lower end of thearm between them and to support the distributor in the absence of thepump.

11. In combination with a railway axle journal, a box carried thereonand a lubricant pump in the box having an upwardly facing outlet, alubricant distributor comprising a pan-like structure for application tothe journal and having a conduit pivoted to its inner end and dependingtherefrom, there being spring means for supporting the member from thepump, and a guide member secured to the rear part of the box andprovided with forwardly and horizontally diverging fingers extendingover the pump and arranged to receive the lower end of the conduitbetween them and guide said end in position over the pump outlet as thedistributor is inserted through the open end of the box and between thepump and journal.

JAS. J. HENNESSY.

REFERENCES CTED rlhe following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,182,205 Hennessy Dec. 5, 19392,260,520 Hennessy Oct. 28, 1941 2,123,654 McCormick July 12, 19382,359,643 Hennessy Oct. 3, 1944 2,331,835 Hennessy Oct. 12, 19432,272,199 Hennessy Feb. 10, 1942 1,265,198 Hennessy May '7, 19182,166,606 Pesarese July 18, 1939

